Smaller, Fewer, Sweeter

Mother Nature Got Tough On Connecticut's Apple Crop

Cold, wet weather in May and a late summer drought will reduce the state's fall apple crop by 10 percent over last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But while the apples may be smaller and fewer, they should be sweeter as the dry conditions concentrate the apples' natural sugars, said Donald Preli, owner of Belltown Hill Orchards in Glastonbury.

The USDA's New England Agricultural Statistics Service said cold spring conditions were largely to blame for an overall 16 percent reduction in New England's apple crop. The forecast for Connecticut is a harvest of 417,000 bushels, compared to 464,000 bushels last year.

The weather was particularly fickle in Connecticut, the southernmost state in the region. Growers in some parts of the state reported nearly normal conditions except for reduced size caused by hot, dry weather in July, August and September, while others reported being hit hard.

``My personal experience has been that we had excellent bloom and excellent fruit set,'' said David Kollas, owner of Kollas Orchard in Tolland and a retired extension fruit specialist at the University of Connecticut. Kollas said his crop of Paula Red apples ``looked good.''

``There was one frosty night here that browned some blossoms, but the initial set was very good,'' he said, referring to the unusually cool month of May. ``I ... did not lose anything to frost.''

Preli's experience several miles south in Glastonbury was much different.

``We're looking at considerably more than 10 percent less,'' he said. ``We're probably going to be down half from our normal production. We had a cold, rainy May, and the bees didn't pollinate. With the dry August, the fruit is not sizing well.

``It's been 50, 55 days since we've had any substantial rain. That does make the apples sweeter, I'll say that. The fruit is going to be smaller, but better than if we were having a lot of rain.'' Preli said he is currently picking Macintosh and Cortland apples.

Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, which will begin picking Macoun apples this weekend, is also predicting a smaller crop.

``I think we're probably in that range -- about 10 percent lower and it could be little more than that, as well,'' said Executive Vice President John Lyman III. ``We weathered the tough spring and we knew the apples were a little lighter on the tree, but they were sizing up pretty well. But since its been dry through the summer, they're not sizing well at all.''

The different experiences are largely the result of geography, growers and agricultural officials said.

Todd Wright, of Wright's Orchard and Dried Flower Farm in Tolland, said he got substantially more rain in late summer than at the University of Connecticut just a few miles away, where he also works. And rainfall was even scarcer farther east.

``If you were to go from my farm to UConn, and from UConn all the way east --the rainfall was significantly less. It's bone dry east of UConn. I got four storms that UConn and eastern Connecticut both missed. It's literally going to be a farm-to-farm thing.''

Wright said his own crop --with help from a huge fan to disperse frosty conditions in the spring, an irrigation system and some luck with the weather -- was looking fine.

``I have a full crop, actually,'' he said. ``Apple size is wonderful.''

As for the cold, orchards in the Connecticut River Valley usually have the advantage of warmer spring weather over those in the northwestern or northeastern hills. But that advantage was nullified this year, growers said.

Preli estimated that his Glastonbury orchard comes into bloom about a week ahead of orchards in northeastern Connecticut. This year, that meant his apple blossoms were fully exposed to the cold in May, while trees in colder locations were still wrapped tightly in bud.

``That's how it always works: Some guys didn't get any losses at all and some guys got hit real hard,'' said Rick Macsuga, a marketing representative with the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. ``Some of it has to do with the cold spring. Basically, bees don't work in the rain.

``Some guys lost crops in the winter, with the extreme cold. Overall, though, the quality is going to be good. For some guys, it might just be one variety that suffers. Overall, there's going to be plenty of apples for the people of Connecticut.''